Should I Be Ashamed

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I have an interest in languages, but I have come to realize that I only like European languages and I am black. Not that I sit around and pull my hair out about this, but I am curious if people think it's weird. My brother tells me to learn Swahili, but I have no interest in it. I don't like Oriental or Arabic languages either. I also don't like Slavic languages. I only like Romance and Germanic languages. I enjoy the Romance languages because they are very logical and have the Latin root which is easy to understand, and I like Germanic languages because they are very similar to English. But I wonder how black people and possibly white people will look at me finding an interest in these languages. I like them, they are fun and enjoyable. But I wonder if other people may not be able to see that and start judging me and saying "He wants to be white". I like the languages, I could care less about the people, just as much as the people who speak English and people who speak English and are white or black.

idk

Who knows what ridiculous conclusions some people will draw from their own self-righteous judgementalism (okay, technically that may not be a word)? I wouldn't worry about it, you're interested in what you're interested in, personally, I'm favorably impressed by anyone intelligent enough to want to learn things like that in scholarly depth - there are so many intellectually lazy, superficial twits in the world, its always refreshing to see somebody using their brain.

Besides, the simple truth is that the classic literature and historical documents of the Western World, or the East for that matter, are not written in Swahili. Learning a language like that might be of cultural interest to some, but in the long run, if you're not planning on living where its spoken, it wouldn't be very useful.

Your personal racial/ethnic origin has no bearing on your wanting to pursue this interest.

Was Tiger Woods trying to "be white" when he learned golf at age 4?

Am I "trying to be Asian" when I want to learn how to cook Vietnamese cuisine? (I'm white).

Are Asians trying to "be white" when they master western classical music such as Bach, Mozart or Beethoven?

Learn these languages. There is a rich history to the languages. There is ample opportunity to practice with native speakers (at least in Canada - there are many people who speak these languages as their first language and they would be thrilled to converse with you for your practice).

Also, a little aside... a workmate of mine, who is white and openly gay relayed this story to me. He was sitting the staffroom of his workplace when some Fillapino workmates started speaking in their own language amongst themselves (very rude btw..). My colleague listened for a bit and then responded, in conversational Fillapino - "Yes, I am a 'fa***t'. I'm a big, white, 'fa***t' who happens to speak your language!!" It was quite priceless.

He learned the language because he had worked with many Fillapino people in the hospitality industry - he wasn't "trying to be Fillapino"

Pursue your interests and have fun learning the languages.

I am interested in Chinese language, culture, history.. am not Chinese and couldn't care less about my own culture - it's just not interesting to me. Nothing to be ashamed of - it's not like the study of Swahili and African culture will disappear just because you don't choose to engage in it.

I agree with what everyone's already said. You're interested in what you're interested in, period. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Anyone who thinks you do should themselves be ashamed for their narrow-minded, "self-righteous judgementalism" (if that's not a word, Willard, it should be).

I hate Romanian.

I just thought I'd share that. It's been on my mind for a while.

I love Romance and Germanic languages as well! I am learning German, Spanish, and Italian at the minute, but today and tomorrow, I am doing courses in Greek and Japanese...should be good. I've never really tried languages outside of romance and germanic, so I might like it. There is nothing strange about your interest though - you learn the languages you want to learn! The history behind the romantic and germanic countries is also fascinating...

I don't think that you should be ashamed, at all. You're perfect, just the way that you are.